Price Realism Requirement Is Easily Triggered
Client Alert | 1 min read | 05.20.13
In Esegur-Empresa de Segurança, SA (April 26, 2013), GAO held that the solicitation statement that "unrealistically . . . low . . . prices may serve as a basis for rejection of the proposal" alone created a presumption that the agency would in fact conduct a price realism evaluation of whether proposed prices are too low, even though the solicitation did not say such an evaluation would be conducted, and the agency's failure to do so therefore required that the protest of the awardee's low price award must be sustained. If agencies prophylactically include such language warning against "too low" prices in "low cost technically acceptable" solicitations, disappointed offerors may have a ready-made protest if no realism analysis is performed, but, if agencies do not include such language, they may be required to award to high risk offerors who do not understand the requirements.
Contacts
Insights
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
